Two In A Tub
by adromir
Summary: Legolas plus Rain plus Mud equals to DISASTER! And wait until it's time to give the little prince a bath! A certain elven king is going to have the biggest headache ever!


**Hello, guys! Nice to see you all here! You don't know the excitement I'm going through in my life right now. I just got a newborn nephew! Yippee! His name is Farish Hakimi. I call him Kimi…you know, as in Kimi Raikkonen? He! He! Of course, I have the honor to name him.**

**So, you want more stories of chibi Legolas? Here it is! **

**Note :**** In this story, Legolas' age is equivalent to human's four year old, Arwen is five, while Keldarion and the twins are around fourteen.**

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Legolas had always liked rain.

To his childish mind, rain meant lots of water. Water meant lots of puddles. Puddles meant lots of mud. And mud meant lots and _lots_ of fun!

And in the mud was exactly _where_ he was sitting at present.

Grinning, the youngest prince of Mirkwood lifted his face to the sky. The light drizzle beat upon his blushing cheeks, ran through his long golden hair, and bathed his already drenched naked form. His clothes lie on the ground where he had shed them just now, hopelessly soaked through. The mud felt wet and moist under his skin. He was already shivering from the cold, but the little prince didn't care. Why, he was having the grandest time of his life!

And his father would definitely kill him when he found out about this.

Giggling, Legolas got to his feet and playfully stomped around in the mud, enjoying the sight of the wet earth splattering and splashing madly all around him. Then, like he had done repeatedly before, Legolas took a step back and dived onto his belly, sliding in the mud for several yards before he came to a stop in fit of laughter.

Lying in the puddles, he cocked his ears to hear of anyone approaching. Finding none, he relaxed and shouted with glee even though he knew the noise would give him away and grabbed everyone's attention. He realized that sooner or later, someone would come upon him and drag him back inside out of the rain. Therefore, he would relish this moment while he still could.

Almost abruptly, the moment ended.

"_LEGOLAS_!"

The prince jerked upright and whirled around. He blanched when he saw his father standing at the terrace, glaring at him with his fists clasped about his waist.

_O-oh_. Legolas blinked, unmoving.

"What have gotten into you? Get back inside. NOW!" Thranduil ordered, half screaming. To his exasperation, his son remained sitting there in the mud, blinking back at him without a word.

_Ai!_ The king of Mirkwood rolled his eyes upward. _That boy is going to be the death of me, if not himself!_

He should have known that his youngest child would do something crazy like this when it started raining an hour ago. Convinced that his son was taking his nap in the guest chamber upstairs, Thranduil had joined his host, Elrond, in the tea room. Elrond had invited the Mirkwood royal family to Rivendell to attend his only daughter's birthday party which would be held the next day. Thranduil and his two sons just arrived that noon, and the king had been so sure that Legolas was still tired after the journey he would immediately go to sleep.

But, _no_. The little prince was a bundle of excess energy waiting to explode. And napping is far from what he desired to do.

Thranduil had been deep in a political discussion with his friend when the high sound of childish laughter suddenly caught his ears. "Why would a child be outside in the rain?" he had wondered out loud with a frown.

Elrond had stood up and peered through the window. His eyes widening, the Rivendell lord instantly grinned. "Because _that_ _child_ is none other than that youngest son of yours."

"_What_?!"

Thranduil had abruptly leaped off his chair, glanced outside, and ran towards the terrace that led to the opened lawn where Legolas was frolicking around. And now, here he was, exchanging glares with his headstrong little boy.

"_Legolas_," Thranduil uttered warningly. "Get inside, I said."

The prince shook his head. "No. I want to play."

"But it's raining!"

"That's the whole point! I like rain!" Legolas replied stubbornly, patting happily at the mud beneath him as he widely grinned in pleasure.

Thranduil growled. "You are going to catch cold if you kept on like this! Look at that mud all over you. Get inside, Legolas. You need to take a bath."

His silver eyes flashing, Legolas leaped to his feet and said, "I don't want a bath! I want to play!"

"Bath. _Now_," Thranduil ordered, stepping off the terrace into the rain towards his son.

Legolas took several steps backward. "I will not!"

"Yes, you will. Where are your clothes…? Oh, here they are." Thranduil bent down to pick the damp garments off the ground before reaching for his son's hand. "Come, Legolas."

Unfortunately for him, his son chose not to cooperate.

"I won't take a bath!" Legolas cried out, dancing out of his father's reach. "You have to catch me first!"

With that, the little prince whirled around and dashed onto the terrace straight into the palace, leaving his father cursing and swearing on the lawn, dripping wet.

Thranduil looked up at the sky and sighed out loud. "Why me?"

After taking another deep breath, he shouted, "LEGOLAS! COME BACK HERE!"

Clutching his son's clothes under one arm, Thranduil then took off after the wayward little prince.

Elrond froze when a blur of mud-splattered, small naked figure suddenly blazed past him at high speed.

A moment later, Thranduil burst through the door from the terrace, soaking wet, growling and yelling, "Get back here, you insolent elfling! LEGOLAS!"

Highly amused, Elrond worked hard to stifle his laughter. Never had he seen his friend so harassed like this. The sight was too comical for words. Famously known as the greatest king of all elven kingdoms ever existed, _nothing_ had enough effect to cause Thranduil losing his composure so easily…_except_ for his wild and mischievous youngest child.

Legolas was the one responsible for the streaks of grey that began to appear in his father's golden hair.

"Why, Thranduil. Is your son on the loose? _Again_?" Elrond couldn't resist teasing.

Thranduil glared in reply. "Help me catch him before he ruins your furniture! Look at the mud he drags in all over the floor! It's a mess!"

A loud shriek from the living room suddenly grabbed the two lords' attention. And then something crashed.

"Ai Elbereth! That boy has broken something!" Thranduil paled in chagrin, rushing towards the commotion. Elrond was right behind him, still chuckling.

Gadras, the head-servant for Elrond's household, was wringing his hands in dismay, staring wide-eyed at the broken pieces of a vase at his feet. Muddy footprints were all over the room, a sure sign that Legolas had created havoc there only mere seconds ago.

But the little culprit was nowhere to be seen

"Oh! Oh! Not my vase! Not my floor! My sofa! My wall! Arghh, no! My draperies!" Gadras was heard exclaiming, pointing exuberantly at the mud prints like a man possessed.

"Shut up, Gadras!" Elrond told with a laugh, amused to see the look of horror on his servant's face.

Ignoring the bewildered servant, Thranduil ran onwards to follow his son's footprints which led him through another door across the room. The door opened to another corridor, and he could hear the sound of Legolas' pattering feet echoing up and down the long hallway.

And sure it was. There was his son skipping several yards ahead, singing a childish rhyme at the top of his lungs, "Run as fast as can be, but you'll never catch me!"

"Legolas!" Thranduil yelled.

The prince halted, turned around, and grinned back at his father. "Run as fast as can be, but you'll never catch meeee!" Legolas repeated in his sing-song voice before he took off running once more.

Thranduil growled in frustration as he chased after his son. "You had better stop, Legolas, or I'll feed you to the balrog!"

"But to feed him to the balrog, you have to catch him first!" Elrond interjected with a chuckle as he ran alongside the elven king.

Glaring ferociously at his friend, Thranduil barked, "Will you shut up already? You are not helping any!"

That only caused Elrond to laugh harder.

At that same moment, Prince Keldarion—Thranduil's oldest son—appeared at the end of the hallway, stepping down from above stairs. Keldarion's cobalt blue eyes widened at the sight of his naked and mud-splattered younger brother dashing towards him, with two elven lords highly in pursuit.

"What the blazes—!" The elder Mirkwood prince was instantly struck dumb with disbelief.

"Kel! Get him!" Thranduil shouted.

Snapping back to attention, Keldarion quickly stepped directly into Legolas' path, with his feet planted wide apart as he leaned over in a crouch, all prepared to grab his little brother.

Without missing a beat, Legolas dropped himself onto one side and went sliding across the marble floor—right under his brother's spread legs. Then he regained his feet and vanished up the stairs.

"How the heck—!" Keldarion was perplexed, staring at empty air where his brother had once been.

Thranduil ran past his elder son. "Quit gaping and help me catch him before he turns this place into a pigsty!"

Following after the Mirkwood royalties, Elrond had to clutch his stomach from laughing so hard. Valar! This was the best amusement he had had in centuries!

As he cut through the hallway, Legolas saw Elrond's twin sons suddenly emerged from one of the rooms on his left. Almost at once, three voices shouted from behind him, "ELL! RO! GRAB HIM!"

Elladan and Elrohir blinked. Before they could even move, Legolas had already leaped and slammed into the elder twin. With a surprise yell, Elladan staggered backwards and crashed against his brother. As Legolas leaped himself to safety and resumed running, the twins crumpled to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs, cursing and shouting.

"Aiieee!"

"What the blazes _was_ that?"

"_That_ was the little midget baby brother of mine," Keldarion breathlessly replied, running past them.

"Are you sure? That looked more like an unidentified flying object to me," said Elladan as he got to his feet.

And the wild chase continued.

"Arwen, it is time for your bath."

The only daughter of Elrond looked up from the doll she was playing with, and gave her mother another half-hearted scowl. "Not now, mother. _Pleeeease_?"

"_Now_, dear. _Please_? For me?" Lady Celebrian cajoled, stroking her daughter's head lovingly. "Then you can wear that new dress I've made for you."

"But I want to play with Findel," Arwen said, her lips pouting as she hugged her doll tighter.

"You can still play with her after your bath, baby. She's not going anywhere, is she?"

Arwen was quite for a moment as she considered. "Well…"

"_Red alert!__ Red alert! A mud monster on the loose! We repeat, mud monster on the loose_!"

Celebrian frowned when she heard the sudden commotion coming from outside her daughter's chamber.

"What in Arda…?" The wife of Elrond went to open the door to find out what the noise was all about. To her surprise, a small figure came hurtling inside and landed upon her feet.

"Legolas? Is that really you?" She quickly bent down over the little prince. "My goodness! It _is_ you! Are you all right, little one?"

"Thank the Valar you caught him, my lady!" Thranduil exclaimed as he came to a stop in front of her, as were Elrond, Keldarion and the twins. All of them were panting for breath. "We have been chasing him all over the place like mad!"

Giggling, Legolas hastily stood up and hid behind the voluminous folds of Celebrian's skirt, clutching the pristine silky fabric in his grimy hands.

The Rivendell lady didn't seem to care about the dirt on her dress. Instead, she stared down at Legolas in puzzlement before turning back to the group. "But why have you been chasing him?"

Elrond laughed out loud. "Can't you see, my dear? Look at the boy. He looks like a mud monster!"

"Yes. And he made a lot of mess downstairs!" Thranduil said, glaring at his youngest son. "I'm _trying_ to give him a bath."

"Oh." Calebrian chuckled. "Exactly the same problem I'm having with my daughter right now."

Elrond raised his eyebrows. "Arwen refuses her bath?"

"She prefers to play with her doll," Celebrian replied with a smile and picked up Legolas into her arms. "Don't worry, though. I'll make sure these two children get their bath before dinner."

"Oh, but my lady, I shouldn't trouble you with my son…"

"There's no trouble, my lord. Besides, you need to…uh…change yourself, don't you think?" she said, indicating Thranduil's drenched form.

The elven king blushed slightly, and then glared when Legolas giggled once more. "You and I are not finish, boy, you hear me?" Thranduil growled.

Legolas immediately hid his face against Celebrian's neck, quite scared he was to see his father's angry expression. Frowning disapprovingly at Thranduil, Celebrian stepped back into her daughter's room and shut the door on their faces.

Thranduil's eyes widened while the others stared at him. "_What_?" he asked, bewildered. "What did I say?"

Biting his lips to stop himself from exploding into laughter, Elrond shook his head as he replied, "My wife will flay your hide if you harm one hair on your son's head, Thranduil."

"But I would never…" Thranduil then rolled his eyes upwards. "Fine. I know when to admit defeat." He smiled ruefully at Elrond. "I'll take your wife's advice and change into dry clothes. But you had better help her keep an eye over that little rascal of mine. He's quite a handful. By the way, you are not going to let Legolas share a bath tub with Arwen, aren't you? Don't you think he will…err…'compromise' her in some way?"

Elrond couldn't help it. He threw back his head and roared with mirth. "_Compromise_ my daughter?" Elrond gasped between laughter, fumbling for the doorknob. "By God, they are just babies!"

At that, the Rivendell lord disappeared into his daughter's room, still laughing.

Arwen straightened when she saw her mother carrying the little Mirkwood prince inside.

"What is he doing here?" the girl demanded, jumping off her bed, her doll already forgotten.

Celebrian smiled as she placed Legolas inside the full tub. "Why, I'm giving him a bath, dear."

"What?" Arwen's eyes bulged, while Legolas only grinned widely, showing her his beautiful white teeth which was a stark contrast to his mud splattered face.

"But why use my tub?" the girl whined, glaring at Legolas as her mother gently washed the dirt off his hair.

Elrond chose that moment to enter. He smiled when he heard his daughter's complaining. "But your mother told me that you prefer to play with your doll."

"Not anymore!" Arwen stomped her foot for emphasis. Then, still glowering at the prince, she yanked her dress over her head. Before her parents could stop her, she stepped into the tub, clad only in her bloomers.

Legolas didn't like it at all. "Hey, what are you doing?" he protested. "Get out! I'm still bathing!"

"But this is _my_ tub!" Arwen retorted. "Either _you_ get out or let me share it with you!"

Elrond and Celebrian stared in keen amusement as they two elflings glared at each other. A long moment later, Legolas finally shrugged. "Fine, then," he said. "Just don't tell anyone I share a tub with a girl!"

Arwen frowned as she let her father washed her back. "What's so wrong with that? I saw my parents together in a tub once. Right, mother?"

Elrond froze, eyes bulging, while Celebrian choked on her laughter.

"You did?" Legolas glanced at Elrond and Celebrian, back and forth. "You mean, it's all right to share a tub with a girl? I overheard my father told Kel that it's rude, that you might comp…compre…"

"Compromise?" Elrond supplied, blushing slightly in embarrassment. _Valar__! How do we get into this kind of discussion?_

"Right! You might compromise the lady if you bath with her," Legolas continued, nodding enthusiastically.

"Yes, Legolas, I believe that if you had…uh…_compromise_ the lady, you have to marry her," Celebrian said, winking at her husband who rolled his eyes heavenward.

"_Marry_?" Legolas scowled. "But I don't want to marry _her_!" he exclaimed, pointing at Arwen.

Arwen glared back. "I don't want to marry you, either, _goldilocks_! What sane girl would want you anyway?" Without warning, she grabbed Legolas' ankle and yanked.

With a startled cry, Legolas' head vanished under water. Almost immediately he shot upward, choking and coughing, his face red. "I'll kill you, you _plumpkin_!" he yelled, grabbing Arwen's hair. But she quickly reacted by raising her fist.

"Ow!" Legolas cried out when Arwen punched him in the nose.

"Arwen!" Elrond exclaimed in shock as he quickly plucked his daughter out of the tub. "What did you do that for?" the elven lord reprimanded as he wrapped her in a warm towel.

"Because he is mean!" Arwen responded with a pout.

"Legolas?" Celebrian also took the prince out of the tub after sending a narrowed gaze to her daughter. "Are you…? My goodness! You are bleeding!"

Legolas blinked at the blood at his fingertips. He had touched his smarting nose and his hand had came away wet and sticky. "I'm bleeding? Does...does this mean…I'm going to die?"

Arwen had gone pale. She struggled out of her father's arms to get down and rushed to Legolas' side. "I'm sorry, Legolas! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kill you! I'm so sorry…"

Arwen had wrapped her arms around the prince and _both_ of them started to wail. Loudly.

"Oh, for heaven's sake…" Elrond sighed, at a loss to say better words.

Ruefully shaking her head, Celebrian gathered the two children into her embrace. "There, there now," she said soothingly, gently dabbing at Legolas' nose with a kerchief. "Legolas is not going to die. He just has a nose bleed, that's all. See? His nose is not even broken."

Glancing at her husband, Celebrian said, "Can you get me some of Legolas' clothes, dear? I'm thinking of telling them both a story after they have their dinner."

Elrond nodded, smiling in relief.

"A story? A story, mother? Really?"

"Can you tell us about the balrog, my lady?"

"I want to hear more about grandmother and her magical powers!"

"How about the story of the stars…?"

Elrond walked out the door as the two children jumped up and down with excitement. "Elflings," he muttered, chuckled and shook his head. "Wait till Thranduil hear about this. No doubt he is going to promptly marry the two off!"

That night saw Thranduil approaching Arwen's chamber.

After a brief knock, he pushed open the door and walked in. He found his youngest son sleeping soundly, his head resting on Lady Celebrian's lap. Little Arwen was also lost to the world, lying snuggle against her mother's bosom.

"My lord." Celebrian smiled at the elven king, as her hands gently stroked both the children's heads.

Thranduil smiled back. "I come to collect my little rascal. I heard he and Arwen had a squabble?"

Celebrian laughed softly. "My daughter hit your son, my lord. I'm sorry. But they quickly made peace after that."

"I'm glad." The king bent slightly to gather Legolas into his arms. "I thank you, my lady, for caring after him."

"My pleasure, my lord."

As Thranduil carried his son back to his room, Legolas suddenly stirred. "Father?"

"Yes, son. It's me."

The prince gazed nervously at his father. "Are you angry?"

"Do I look like I'm angry?"

"Not right now but you _were_." Legolas bit his lips before he continued, "I'm sorry I've made you angry. But please promise me one thing?"

His father raised his eyebrows. "Oh? What is it?"

"No matter how angry you are with me, please don't punish me by marrying me off to Arwen. I know we shared a bath tub, and that she is pretty and all but…she is quite fierce! She just punched my nose!"

Thranduil laughed out loud then, hugging his son tighter. "Very well, Legolas, if you insist."

Legolas rested his head against his father's shoulder, sighing in contentment. He grew quiet for a while before he spoke again, "Father?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you share a bath tub with mother? Is that why you two got married? That you had compromised her?"

_What the..?_ Thranduil blinked. _How the blazes am I to answer to that?_

"Uh…well…See here, Legolas," Thranduil said, stumbling for words. He repeatedly cleared his throat before continuing. "Your mother and I, we love each other. That's why we got married. It's as simple as that."

"That's it?" Legolas was not satisfied. "Surely there must be a story behind it all. Tell me, how did you two met?"

Thranduil smiled in reminiscence as he remembered the moment he first saw his wife, who now resided in the Hall of Mandos. "For your information, my son, I didn't meet your mother in a bath tub. But I indeed met her when she was taking a bath in the stream behind the palace. Valar. She was beautiful."

Legolas' eyes widened. He listened intently as his father started telling him the love story of his life.

Even when he went to sleep on his own bed later on, the prince still had his arms wrapped around his father's neck, a smile of happiness still bloomed upon his lips.

The stream.

He was dreaming of the stream behind the Mirkwood palace. He saw a lovely lady with long raven hair bathing in the moonlight. She turned, saw him and smiled lovingly. Then she gracefully walked out of the water, reaching out her arms for him.

"Legolas, my little one," the lady was saying.

"Mother!" he cried out with joy and ran into her embrace.

Kissing his cheek, she asked him, "Have you been a good boy today?"

"Not really," he sincerely answered.

She laughed and brought him into the stream. "Come join me, and you can tell me about your day, darling. I'm anxious to know all of it."

"But, Mother, I still do not know how to swim."

"Don't worry, baby. I'll teach you how. Trust me. I'll never let you drown."

And she had been true to her words.

Her son would never drown even when he was tossed into a raging river or dropped into the vast opened sea. He would grow up to be a powerful warrior prince that would help save Middle-earth from great destruction.

But, of course, her son didn't know it yet.

Therefore, he was going to enjoy every second of this dream of his mother until he woke up to begin another new day as the little prince of Mirkwood.

**THE END**

**You like that one? I hope so. Thank you for reading and enjoying it. I'll come back later with more stories next month. My life is quite hectic right now, what with a newborn baby at home and the coming Board Meeting next week. **

**So, see you soon!**


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